Friday, 07 September 2007
According to the Merck licensing and partnership website, "Eleven of our 20 new products launched since 1995 are the result of licensing alliances." The site lists Merck's partners, which include small and medium-sized pharma, universities, and biotech firms, but none of their big pharma competitors.
Select Joint Ventures, Partnerships, and Alliances with Small and Midsized Pharma
Merck and Verenium – In June 2005, Verenium announced that it had expanded its existing agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. for the development of therapeutic antibodies. Verenium states that, "Under the terms of the expanded agreement, Verenium will receive an additional up-front payment and research funding, and will be entitled to receive milestones based on the successful development of antibody candidates and royalties on sales of products developed under the collaboration. In January 2005, the two companies announced their initial antibody development agreement to apply Verenium’s MedEv™ antibody evolution platform in a joint development program." http://www.celunol.com/Pages/Specialty%20Enzymes/Spec%20Enzyme%20Alliances/SpecEnzyAllianceMerck.html
Merck EuroLab and Ventro Life Sciences – PRNewswire reports that "Merck Eurolab, the European Laboratory Distribution Company of Merck KGaA, and Ventro Life Sciences (known as Chemdex in the USA)…announced a strategic alliance to provide the European pharmaceutical and life sciences industry with the first one-stop e-procurement marketplace for laboratory products and supplies. The two companies are working together to integrate Ventro Life Sciences' business-to-business trading solution and customer relationship expertise with Merck Eurolab's extensive logistics capabilities and strengths in delivering products and services." http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=23646
Merck and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals – are engaged in a multi-year collaboration to develop and commercialize RNAi therapeutics for ocular diseases. This is one of two strategic alliances between Merck and Alnylam. The Alnylam investor relations website states that, "Under the terms of the agreement, Alnylam will receive an initial cash payment from Merck and can receive additional cash payments upon the achievement of specified progress milestones. Cash payments to Alnylam could collectively total $19.5 million. In addition, Merck and Alnylam will jointly fund the development of, and share the profits from, any RNAi therapeutics for the United States market that result from the collaboration. Alnylam will also have the option to co-promote these RNAi therapeutics in the United States." June 2004. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=148005&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=586364&highlight=
The first collaboration between Merck and Alnylam was announced in September 2003, a multi-year collaboration to develop RNAi-based technology and therapeutics generally. According to Alnylam, "This strategic alliance represents the first major collaboration between a leading pharmaceutical company and an RNAi therapeutics company." The terms of the deal stipulate that "Merck will make an upfront and annual cash payments and also make an equity investment in Alnylam. An additional cash payment and equity investment will be triggered by achievement of a pre-specified technology milestone. Merck will also make further payments to Alnylam for each RNAi-based drug candidate for which Merck elects to participate in further development and commercialization. Merck will receive a co-exclusive license to Alnylam intellectual property for use in in vitro and in vivo target identification and validation."
Merck and ChemBridge – In December 2004, Merck and ChemBridge Corporation entered into a five-year collaboration agreement in discovery chemistry. This agreement expanded an alliance established in 2001 between Merck and ChemBridge Research Laboratories. Financial terms were not disclosed, but under the agreement, ChemBridge and Merck scientists will work together to develop chemistry research projects. See also: http://www.biospace.com/news_story.aspx?NewsEntityId=18360520
Merck and GlycoFi – announced in December 2005 a broad strategic alliance and multi-year research collaboration to develop biologic and vaccine drug candidates. GlycoFi and Merck scientists will work together to deploy GlycoFi’s technology to produce and optimize various pharmaceutical properties of a broad range of Merck’s biologic drug candidates, including vaccines, antibodies, and other therapeutic proteins. According to Merck's 10-K filing for 2006, "Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will make an upfront cash payment and an equity investment in GlycoFi, and fund GlycoFi’s research efforts taking place under the program. GlycoFi is eligible to receive milestone payments as products from the collaboration move through development, and a royalty on sales of commercialized products." http://www.secinfo.com/dsvr4.u2R9.htm